How Starwood is learning Snapchat with branded geofilters Last week, Starwood’s loyalty program started offering seven branded geofilters at 650 hotels across Starwood properties in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Source: Hotel Marketing How Starwood is learning Snapchat with branded geofilters

5 key takeaways from Mary Meeker’s Annual Internet Trends Report A respected analyst, Meeker’s offers not only a feast of facts on the state of the web, but also prescient insights on where the industry is headed. Source: Hotel Marketing 5 key takeaways from Mary Meeker’s Annual Internet Trends Report

GDS channel’s growth outpaces hotels’ direct bookings Hotels’ direct booking programs have an effect on revenue and occupancy, with a first quarter increase of 0.8% in bookings compared with the same period last year. However, the GDS channel increased by 1.3 % during the same period, a rate that is 60% greater. Source: Hotel Marketing GDS channel’s growth outpaces hotels’ direct bookings